Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Olé, the TV production company launched in September by director Richard Shepard and producers Sean Furst & Bryan Furst, is putting down roots at CBS Television Studios with an exclusive two-year deal. The studio had been handling Olé’s development under Shepard’s overall deal there. Now the two sides have formalized their relationship with a pod agreement. Shepard, an Emmy winner for directing the pilot for ABC’s Ugly Betty, most recently directed the pilot for Ringer, the upcoming CW series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar produced by CBS Studios. He also directed the pilots for the CBS Studios co-produced Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. “I’ve had a great run at CBS Television Studios,” says Shepard. “And the fact that they are so supportive of all my interests makes continuing and expanding the relationship with our producing company Olé a no-brainer.”

Shepard and the Fursts met on the Pierce Brosnan-starring film The Matador, which the Fursts produced and Shepard wrote and directed, and then worked together again on the HBO documentary I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale before forming Olé. Within weeks, the company set up two projects, including the Shepard-written Corkscrew, which was sold to Showtime. Under the new deal, the Olé partners will “focus heavily on getting entertaining, character-driven shows on the air,” Sean and Bryan Furst said. The Fursts most recently produced the feature Daybreakers and the Epix pilot Tough Trade.

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